Disappointing smartphone and desktop software. Video edges are soft. Purple fringing in high contrast areas. 360-degree video has a long way to go.

Bottom Line

The Kodak Pixpro SP360 4K is one of the first 360 degree cameras to add 4K support, but resolution is still a problem with the format.

Kodak brought one of the first 360-degree video cameras to market: the PixPro SP360. But its 1080p resolution simply didn't hold up to being stretched out into the format used to display 360-degree video on YouTube. The latest Pixpro bumps the overall resolution to 4K, but even with those extra pixels there's something lacking in terms of crispness, especially when compared with modern cameras that capture lifelike 4K video in a very non-spherical 16-by-9 frame. But if you're considering adding a camera of this type to your kit, the SP360 4K ($449) is a solid choice.

DesignA small with a lens on top, the SP360 measures 1.9 by 2 by 2.1 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.5 ounces. On-body controls include buttons to turn the camera on or off, set the shooting mode, navigate menus, start and stop recording, and activate Wi-Fi. There's a small monochrome LCD on the side that displays the current shooting status.

A standard tripod mount sits on the side, which encourages you to face the camera toward a subject when recording. Below it is a flap that covers the micro USB and micro HDMI and the internal microphone. There is no way to add an external mic. The removable battery is accessible via a door on the bottom. It's good for about 55 minutes of UHD recording on a single charge.

The SP360 4K isn't submersible, but it is rated IP6X for protection from dust and splashes. If you want to take it in the water, you can add an underwater case ($55) that's rated for use in up to 98 feet (30 meters).

Accessories are light—you get the battery charger, a cleaning cloth, and a carrying case with the basic SP360 4K. For $499 you can get the Premier Pack, which adds cup and bar mounts, and a housing cage that works with GoPro mounts.

Single or Dual Camera OptionsA 360-degree camera with a single lens, like the SP360, isn't going to capture a fully immersive sphere. Instead, it captures video that covers a 360-degree horizontal angle, and about a 235-degree vertical angle. This is in contrast to dual-lens models, like the Ricoh Theta S, and LG 360 Cam ($199.99), both of which are on sale and are limited to 1080p video capture. There are a pair of dual-lens models that promise 4K, the Samsung Gear 360 and Nikon KeyMission 360; the former isn't on sale in the US as of yet, though it is available in other markets, and the latter isn't expected to hit market until late this year.

For many applications the field of view offered by the SP360 is ample. If you place the camera low to the ground, for example, capturing what's below the lens isn't really beneficial to the shot. But there are applications for which you want a fully spherical video. Kodak offers a kit that includes two cameras, brackets to mount them back-to-back, and various mounting accessories for $899. That's a high price to pay, especially when you consider that the Samsung Gear 360 recently sold for $350 when it was offered to VidCon attendees, but keep in mind that at this time its mobile app only works with the recent Samsung Galaxy flagship phones—the S6 and S7 family, and the Note 5—which limits its appeal.

SoftwareKodak offers basic software to work with 360-degree video. The SP360 4K desktop app, available for Mac and Windows, lets you use your computer as a remote viewfinder and control the camera—but for that most users will turn to the Android and iOS companion app. more useful function is trimming clips and preparing them for YouTube upload.

And trimming is really the only thing you should use the app for. It's possible to trim out several clips and merge them, but you're better off turning to a proper editing application, like iMovie or Adobe Premiere Pro CC, to work with the footage on a timeline. The Kodak app's media management function is rudimentary—you can open a folder full of clips, but not pull individual clips into the software.

It's also riddled with bugs—I frequently was greeted with a black frame within the playback window, even after I had loaded video files in. Quitting and reopening the app was the only way to fix it. You also can't use the app to upload to YouTube if you use another program to edit. That's not a huge deal, as YouTube has a straightforward tutorial on getting video to play properly on the site, but it's a basic function that you'd expect the bundled software to perform.

You can also download software to stitch footage from dual cameras together. It's pretty basic, but it gets the job done. You load two clips, and can either automatically (based on the soundtrack—time to invest in a clapboard) or manually sync them by frame. There is some room for improvement—if you want to sync from a point that's not the beginning or end of the clip, it can be tricky to get the fairly close in both clips using dual sliders. They may appear to be at the exact same point, but could be a few seconds off. It takes a while to stitch clips, even with a fast computer—my 5K Retina iMac required 26 minutes to merge an 8.5-minute video. And, even when mounting cameras back-to-back with the proper accessory, shows a noticeable blur at the seam where stitching occurs.

Video QualityThe SP360 4K offers more pixels than 360-degree cameras that are limited to 1080p video capture. Its native video is a sphere bounded by a 2,880 by 2,880-pixel square frame. When converted into a format that can be played back by YouTube and Facebook the footage is stretched out to 3,840 by 1,920. But with a single camera the bottom third or so of that footage is blacked out, so you're looking at that's closer to 3,840 by 1,280—just slightly more lines of resolution than you get from 1080p video.

Frame rate options are limited. For 360-degree 4K footage, you can only roll at 30fps. You can drop the resolution to 1,440 by 1,440 and increase the frame rate to 60fps. There's also a flat video option, 2160p, at 30fps, which can be increased to 60fps at 1080p, 120fps at 720p, and 240fps at 480p. There's no support for 24fps capture.

You'll notice a black, empty spot in YouTube footage when using a single camera. The YouTube player supports full 360-degree spherical video, like you get from a dual-lens camera or two SP360 4Ks mounted back-to-back and stitched together.

When viewed in its native circular format, is very crisp through most of the frame. But as you approach the outer limits of coverage, subjects are noticeably blurred. You'll want to take care in setting up your shot, lowering the camera down far enough so that your subjects, or angling it so that what's important in the frame isn't located at the edge of the coverage range.

Stretched out, the footage appears soft, even before YouTube's compression takes it toll on shared video. More pixels are needed to make the stretched, navigable video look as good as we've gotten used to with flat 1080p HD video, yet alone 4K.

There are some other issues with the video. Purple fringing is noticeable in high-contrast areas of the frame, especially toward the edges, and if you're shooting with the lens pointing up on a bright day, the sun is going to create some flaring effects. Dynamic range is a little weak, struggling to keep highlights under control when there's a mix of bright and dark in a scene. But the camera does react quickly to the changes in brightness, showing no problems when moving from the shadowed canopy of trees into a brightly-lit meadow.

The smartphone control app, which leverages Wi-Fi to stream live video from the camera to your Android or iOS device in your choice of projection, does allow you to adjust exposure settings. If you know that your shot has varied lighting you can dial in negative EV to darken the autoexposure settings and prevent highlights from completely blowing out—it's possible to brighten shadowed areas in an editing suite, but if is blown out, there's no getting that detail back.

Footage in dim light looks pretty good. It's not overly soft of grainy, as it is with the 360fly 4K. Audio is also stronger than the 360fly. When set up in with three people speaking at conversation level voices came through loud and clear. That's important, as there's no way to connect an external microphone. Of course, if you mount the SP360 to a noisy device—like a drone or tractor—that's all you're going to hear. And when recording in areas with lots of background noise, the omnidirectional mic is going to pick that up as well.

ConclusionsPerhaps video is the natural evolution of the ultra-wide field of view popularized by GoPro, perhaps it's the future of moving images, or perhaps it's a passing fad. Only time will tell. What's clear is that more pixels at the time of capture are required in order to net video that's as crisp and detailed as we've come to expect from flat HD and UHD video. Given those curbed expectations, the Kodak SP360 4K is a little rough around the edges in terms of software support, but quality is on par with what we see in its closest competitor, the 360fly 4K, with the Kodak capturing much clearer audio and performing better in dim light.

Stitching is an option with dual SP360 4K cameras, although the price is , and the quality of the stitching is not as seamless as it is with the Ricoh Theta S, the only dual-lens camera of this type that we've tested thus far. But the Theta video is limited to 1080p, which simply isn't strong enough for 360-degree output. Time will tell if dual-lens models with 4K support will be enough to bridge the gap in resolution, or if we'll be waiting for the eventual wave of 6K or 8K before we can get footage of this type that pops with the same level of clarity as flat video. That said, if you don't feel that you need fully spherical capture, and if you're willing to live with that's fairly soft when compared with what you get from traditional cameras, the Kodak SP360 4K is a solid choice, but remember that you're dealing with a nascent technology.

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About the Author

Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at re... See Full Bio

Kodak Pixpro SP360 4K

Kodak Pixpro SP360 4K

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